Turning beauty into a beast

In my humble opinion, one of the most magnificent Classic-era Lincoln models has to be the Murphy roadsters on the 1932 KB V-12 chassis, of which only five were built. I am not sure how many survive, but the fate of one of those cars was featured in Fork and Blade, publication of the Lincoln Owners Club. It turns out the last of the five was stripped of its fenders and engine cover, a huge GMC blower was mounted to the engine, then it was raced at the salt flats around 1950 or thereafter. Quite a fate for one of the Classic era’s most beautiful examples.

LOC member Jim Griffin shared how he came upon this car and learned of its fate in Issue 49, No. 2 of the publication, as well as a couple photos of the car (one from the late 1940s and the other from 1950 or thereabouts). In one of the photographs, the body looks immaculate, and it even retains the tiny Murphy coachbuilder’s tag on the lower cowl!

In his story, Griffin doesn’t mention is the fate of this car — does it still exist? If you know, drop a line to oldcars@krause.com.